Dead and dying arctic birds are showing up in Florida

NAPLES, Florida (WBBH) -- Arctic birds that are supposed to be up north are ending up in Southwest Florida. They're about 1,000 miles from where they should be.

They're called razorbills and they look a little like penguins.

They're migrating to Southwest Florida and dying within hours. We found out how Hurricane Sandy might be responsible months after it made landfall.

Walking down the beach near Clam Pass, Ed Selby saw a bird he'd never seen before on the shores of Southwest Florida.

"They look a little bit like penguins. This is the first time I'd ever seen the birds here. In fact, I think it's the first time anyone's seen them here," said Selby, a volunteer with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.

He found two dead razorbills - an arctic migratory seabird not native to Florida.

Over the past few weeks wildlife clinics have taken in dozens of the protected birds. Most were already dead; others were found exhausted and starving and died within hours.